The Postal Service or is it Disservice?

The U.S. Postal Service spends what appears to be millions of dollars on commercials telling us how much better their service is now, with more frequent scanning of packages and the new two and three day Priority Mail service. It's so good, the two and three day service is printed right there on your label for all to see. Plus they now have spent untold dollars more to use Spiderman as a mascot in their website. Must be because his hands stick to the mail and slow it down, just like the slowness of many real USPS employees.

Well, hold on a moment. First of all, I have been informed that the two and three days labeling is no more than hype by the Postal Service. I guess something to soothe the public as they once again raised rates on their lackadaisical and lackluster service. The two and three day statement only means that they will attempt to get the package there in two or three days but it could take longer and there is absolutely no guarantee how long. Nor is there any recourse if the package take a week or more to arrive. The only guaranteed service is Express Mail which is now called Priority Mail Express, where it's delivered the next day overnight or you can fight to get your postage fees back.

Two or three days can mean 8 days as we found out in early December. Not wanting to chance late delivery, we shipped very early via Priority Mail with the "two day" statement on the labels. two packages to the same address. One arrived 4 business days later and one 8 days later. What happened to the two days? And why didn't they arrive the same day? First Class mail, which used to take one day within a city now takes two or three many times, and cross country flat envelopes can take several weeks, depending on the post office. I've had flats to New Hampshire swirling around and around for up to two weeks and finally had to call the local New Hampshire post office to see what was going on and have them track the piece of mail. No help but a few days later it was delivered.

Scanning is terrible. Mail is often picked up and never scanned until late in the day at the post office. The carrier is supposed to scan the packages at pickup but they often do not. Must we post a note on all packages to please scan at pickup to assure the packages get scanned?  Interim scanning is spotty at best. We have had packages that were never scanned at all until they were delivered. Sometimes they are not even scanned at delivery, and in the case of an item of value, have to rely on the recipients honesty, as if they state they never received it, we have no way to prove it was received. We're then out the money and the Postal Service can't track it either. Oh, did I mention the Postal Service doesn't consider anything "lost" until 30 days have passed?

Packages that end up on the wrong truck or in the wrong bin for delivery and re held up for days require a call to the Post Office as they will not find their mistake. We had a package that was out for delivery for two days and finally called to see what was going on. A supervisor stated it was in the wrong "bin" and we could come in and get it or he would place it in the correct bin for next day delivery. If we hadn't called, I wonder how many days it would have gone along on that cycle?

Sort Centers are another problem where mail can sit for days unless it is handled properly. But again, adequate supervision and getting rid of the dead wood at these stations would go a long way towards moving the mail more efficiently. 

The first class postage rate increase to 49 cents was noted to be temporary an is supposed to be reduced to 47 cents as soon as the Postal Service bails itself out of the current mess it is in. Fat chance! With the type service we are getting, we're starting to rely more heavily on other services that have more time defined delivery and better customer services,

Speaking of customer services, the USPS really sucks at that. They have a toll-free line that lets you sit on hold eternally because either they have so many complaints they can't handle them or they really don't want to know what you have to say. Send in a written or e-mail complaint and you get a response from your local post office even if the issue is not with them. Then they want all the specifics, so you need to scan and cut and paste and send it to the original place where you couldn't send it to in the first place. You know you don't get an e-mail for your local PO to do so.

So, when the Postal Service wonders why they're going bankrupt, it's simple. The service is really bad and getting worse. And customer service is bad. Been to a Post Office with 30 people in line and watched a clerk close his window because it's his time to go on break? While you stand in line even longer as nobody comes to open his window? That's difficult to explain to the customers who have businesses of their own or children crying or taking time from their jobs. I was informed that's the way it's run and the union rules. Break time comes and all else stops...screw the customers. If you ran your business they way, you wouldn't survive either.

So, people turn to e-mail, texting, paperless banking, paperless bill paying, FedEx, UPS, OnTrac, and all sorts of other alternatives to the Postal Service. For years, it was not cost effective to use FedEx for consumers shipping packages, but with the new ground services available, in many cases it's less costly than the Postal Service. With 5 day delivery, $100 of insurance included too.    

April 24, 2014:

Here's yet another view of the stellar service I receive. A package with "2 Day" service gets to San Diego, CA yesterday. Leaves that facility last night yet doesn't make it to my post office less than 35 miles away to be delivered today. Thus two day turns into three day at best. Why?

Postal Product: Priority Mail 2-Day^™

Features: $100 insurance included    USPS Tracking^™

Date & Time	Status of Item	Location
April 23, 2014	Depart USPS Sort Facility	SAN DIEGO, CA 92199
April 23, 2014 , 10:39 pm	Processed through USPS Sort Facility	SAN DIEGO, CA 92199
April 22, 2014	Depart USPS Sort Facility	LOUISVILLE, KY 40231
April 22, 2014 , 4:13 pm	Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility	LOUISVILLE, KY 40231
April 22, 2014 , 2:58 pm	Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility	SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY 40165
April 22, 2014	Electronic Shipping Info Received

NOTE: The $100 Insurance you actually pay for. I shipped three articles out Priority Mail and wanted to insure them for $100 and the USPS wanted me to pay an additional $2+ for the insurance over $50 which was free. So the "included" is a bunch of bull in my opinion.

Speaking of scanning, a piece of mail that required scanning went from my box with a NOTE on it requesting it be scanned (never was) to the Carlsbad 92011 Post Office (Never Scanned) to the San Diego Sort Center (Never Scanned) and God knows where else. The FIRST SCAN was 4 days later in Indianapolis where some conscientious person actually did their job and scanned it. Half way across the country and 4 days later before anyone scanned it. We presumed it may have been lost. Great service, eh?

Yet the Postal Service continues to advertise their wonderful services with pricey television commercials and thtat costly Spiderman theme. Why not spend that money on actually doing the job we pay them for. Privatize the whole damned thing and let the chips fall where they may. Dump the Postal Unions so they can get rid of the useless slackers who don't do their jobs. We must have a bunch of them locally because why else would the mail be in such a mess?